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Business Extra ("ExtrAA") Program (master thread)

Old Nov 21, 2012, 10:53 am
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Last edit by: Prospero
American Airlines Business Extra Program (master thread)

Historical Notes
  • October 5th, 2021: New award types introduced: BXL1 for Platinum status and BXP0 to convert Business Extra points to AA miles at a 1:6 rate. New requirement introduced to redeem: Starting January 1, 2023, current members will be required to have three unique travelers and maintain $5,000 in qualifying Business Extra flight activity during the previous 12-month period to redeem points.This policy will go into effect immediately for new members who join the program on October 4, 2021 or later.
  • Feb 2018 - BXP1, BXP2, BXP3 Upgrade Certificates can be redeemed electronically, without the need to redeem or submit paper certificates. [URL="https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/29470237-post1150.html"[/url]
  • Dec 2015 - Unannounced more-restrictive changes to BXP upgrade certificates implemented. [URL="http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-airlines-aadvantage/898180-business-extra-program-master-thread-consolidated.html#post25942133"[/url]
  • Nov 2015 - Europe AA Business Extra closed and migrated to AA-BA-IB On Business [URL="http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-airlines-aadvantage-combined-airline-program/1715008-aa-ba-ib-europe-business-programme-nov-30-2015-ex-business-extra-europe.html"[/url]
  • Oct 2014 - Business Extra Awards may be redeemed for flights on US Airways
  • Sep 2013 - Business ExtrAA brand changed to simply Business Extra
  • Sep 2012 - Upgrade Awards are no longer restricted to use within 30 days of travel [url=http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/19345217-post394.html[/url]

Key Information
  • Promotion Codes - For a current list of Business ExtrAA promotions, see: Business ExtrAA Bonus Offers (consolidated)

  • Point Expiration - Business Extra points expire on a rolling basis, two years after the year in which they are earned, on December 31 at midnight U.S. Central Time. Their validity can not be extended.

  • Award Redemption - All awards must be redeemed via the Business Extra website. Flight Awards are delivered electronically via email with an Electronic Authorization Number. Upgrade Awards and Admirals Club Day Passes are delivered in paper certificate form via regular mail. Redemption sweeps occur twice per week and expedited delivery is available if you provide your FedEx/UPS account number via email. Gold Status and Admirals Club Membership awards are processed and active in the member's account after approximately one week, with other membership materials delivered in the mail within 4 weeks.

    Note: BE awards must be booked on nonstop flights if they are available between your origin and destination.

  • Award Inventory Codes - Per Meeting Services, Business Extra Awards book into the following inventory (although there are conflicting reports from mvoight and InsipidMonkey on whether or not this information is accurate for PlanAAhead Awards, for which availability may be significantly less than MileSAAver Award and/or T inventory availability):Award Type Books Into
    PlanAAhead - Economy T
    PlanAAhead - Business* U
    PlanAAhead - First Z

    AAnytime - Economy Y
    AAnytime - Business* J
    AAnytime - First F

    Upgrade to Business* C
    Upgrade to First A

    * = First class cabin on 2-class flights
    = First class cabin on 3-class flights

  • Flight Award Reservations - Award Tickets must be booked through AA Meeting Services at 1-800-433-1790 (U.S. and Canada; others contact your local reservations office), and you will need to provide the Reservations Agent with the Electronic Authorization Number from your award certificate. As of Oct 2012, flight awards can be booked without a telephone booking service charge.

  • Flight Award Expiration - As published on the Business Extra website, Award Tickets must be booked within one year of redeeming the certificate, and are then valid for one year from booking:

    Award ticket must be issued by midnight one year from the original award redemption date. Tickets issued against Business Extra flight awards are then valid for one year from the ticket issue date.
  • Upgrade Award Reservations - Upgrade Awards may be applied once a reservation is Ticketed by calling AA Meeting Services or using the Business Extra website. Once requested online you will receive an email with a confirmation number and serial numbers for each upgrade certificate requested.

    Upgrade Awards carry fare restrictions (excludes B, N, O, Q or S fares). Take careful note of your fare when making a reservation. It is possible to "Upfare" a reservation from the lowest available fare to an BXP-upgrade-eligible fare by placing it on Hold at AA.com, calling AA to request the desired higher fare basis code, then completing the purchase online.

    You can specify ITA searches that exclude the ineligible fares as follows:jfk:: aa /f ~bc = b & ~bc = n & ~bc = o & ~bc = q & ~bc = s

    (Or you can place everything after the slash directly in the second advanced control box.)

    These filters can also be concatenated with other commands, such as maximum duration, separated with a semicolon:jfk:: aa /maxdur 800 ; f ~bc = b & ~bc = n & ~bc = o & ~bc = q & ~bc = s

  • Upgrade Award Expiration - Electronic BXP Upgrade Awards are valid for 1 year from redemption. Previously, paper Upgrade Awards were valid thru Jun 30 or Dec 31 of the following year, with the exact date depending on the batch of certificates available at the time of redemption.

  • Returning Unused Awards - Points redeemed for awards but not yet applied to a ticket can be returned for no charge by using the 'returns' option in your account options. Points will be reinstated with an expiration date 2 calendar years from reinstatement (i.e., expiring on December 31 two calendar years from reinstatement). For awards already applied to a ticket, you must call Business ExtrAA customer services at 800-457-7072, or email [email protected]. Customers outside the US should use the email.
  • Business Extra Account Credit - A Business Extra number can be added to an existing reservation (for example, booked by a third-party travel agent) by calling AA Meeting Services.

    A Business Extra number can be added to an existing BA reservation as follows:
    1. Go to www.britishairways.com
    2. Select 'Manage My Booking' tab
    3. Follow the instructions to pull up your reservation
    4. Select the link towards bottom listed under 'Quick Links' 'Add On Business or Business Extra number'
    5. Add your Business Extra number and check the box to give your consent.

    Retroactive credit for completed travel can be requested via the Business Extra website.

  • Contact Business Extra

    Web home page: https://www.businessextra.com

    Booking and Ticketing (Meeting Services desk)
    www.aa.com
    1-800-433-1790 5:00 a.m. - 12:00 midnight (CT) 7 days a week

    Business Extra Customer Service
    1-800-457-7072 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (CT) Monday - Friday
    Fax: 1-817-931-9029
    E-mail: [email protected]

    Link to aa.com BE contact web form
    http://www.aa.com/contactAA/viewEmai...businessExtrAA

    Link to BE web contact form

Note: older posts have been archived to ARCHIVE: Business Extra Program master thread (consolidated)
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Business Extra ("ExtrAA") Program (master thread)

Old Nov 17, 2015, 5:37 pm
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Planet Earth (mostly)
Posts: 263
Business Extra ("ExtrAA") Program (master thread)

http://www.flyertalk.com/articles/am...m-changes.html

Oh well. There goes AA's frequent flyer program down the drain.

4 SWUs for EXPs instead of 8.

Most awards will cost more.

Off-peak period for awards is cut back.

Elite membership year is a month shorter.

An EXP will earn less miles on a transatlantic discount economy ticket than a non-elite currently earns on the same ticket. On transatlantic routes, for a non-elite, the miles earned will be about 75% less than what they used to be.

The only difference left between AA and the other crappy programs now is that AA's is not completely as terrible as all the others, only almost. Thanks American, I feel SOOOOO special now.

Last edited by EU-US; Nov 17, 2015 at 5:46 pm
EU-US is offline  
Old Jan 1, 2017, 9:48 pm
  #2  
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,731
Is it just me or did AA raise the price for Gold nomination? I recall it used to be 2400 points, but now its 3200 points listed.
ckpeter is offline  
Old Jan 1, 2017, 10:33 pm
  #3  
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: DFW
Programs: AA EP/4MM, DL GM/1MM, HH ♦, Bonvoy LT PLT, Hyatt Globalist, AMEX Bus Plt
Posts: 620
Originally Posted by ckpeter
Is it just me or did AA raise the price for Gold nomination? I recall it used to be 2400 points, but now its 3200 points listed.
I have redeemed this a couple of times in the past for employees. I believe you are correct.
texmanufan is offline  
Old Jan 2, 2017, 1:03 pm
  #4  
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: DFW
Programs: AA EXP, LT Gold
Posts: 3,138
Originally Posted by ckpeter
Is it just me or did AA raise the price for Gold nomination? I recall it used to be 2400 points, but now its 3200 points listed.
Wow... 800 more points for a status even more worthless than it was one year ago.

Because that makes sense to the consumer...
econometrics is offline  
Old Jan 2, 2017, 1:23 pm
  #5  
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: SNA
Programs: AA EXP, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, IHG Plat, Marriott Gold, National EE
Posts: 1,199
Originally Posted by econometrics
Wow... 800 more points for a status even more worthless than it was one year ago.

Because that makes sense to the consumer...
It seems to me that every frequent flyer program has been devalued as the economy has improved quite a bit. I don't see a compelling superior alternative to Business Extraa unfortunately.
ralphs is offline  
Old Jan 4, 2017, 1:03 am
  #6  
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: LHR
Programs: AA
Posts: 773
Originally Posted by chrisremo
I just called Business Extra to try and redeem two BXP1 certificates for two passengers (including myself) flying SFO-JFK in February. The agent said there was availability and booked us into First. On my AA account, the flight shows us as being in First, and I am able to select seats in that cabin.

Two questions:
1. Does this seem correct? I would have expected to be booked into Business on a three-class plane. Is there any risk here?
2. Do I need to fill out all the information on the front of the certificate before arriving at the gate, or will the gate agent do that? (And if there's a risk the upgrade won't clear, should I risk filling out the certificate in ink?)
Interesting resolution to this:

A couple weeks later, I got a call from AA saying there'd been a schedule change to my flight. I called back, they said there was no change, and I was still booked into First on the same flight. I said, "So you're sure there's nothing I need to know?" and they put me on hold for a while.

When they came back, they said "Everything looks fine sir, you're booked into Business. What row would you like?"

So I think what happened was something got flagged in their system indicating we were booked into the wrong cabin, they realized it mid-call, and quietly rebooked us into Business without mentioning that was happening. I'm entirely fine with it, since that's what the BXP1 entitles us to, not First.

The interesting part is that, according to ExpertFlyer, there wasn't actually any upgrade availability before the call. I think they forced Business upgrade availability mid-call, which is why I was on hold for so long, because they didn't want to have to come back and tell me that I'd been put back into Economy, after two separate phone calls in which I was assured I'd be flying First.
chrisremo is offline  
Old Jan 4, 2017, 10:01 am
  #7  
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Hermosa Beach, CA
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Platinum Elite
Posts: 66
Adding BizExtra to AS reservation?

The Wiki has instructions for adding a Biz Extra number to BA reservations but does anyone know if the same can be done for bookings on Alaska Air?
sailor279 is offline  
Old Jan 4, 2017, 1:19 pm
  #8  
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: LHR
Programs: AA
Posts: 773
Originally Posted by sailor279
The Wiki has instructions for adding a Biz Extra number to BA reservations but does anyone know if the same can be done for bookings on Alaska Air?
No, Alaska has its own business rewards program, Easybiz.
chrisremo is offline  
Old Jan 11, 2017, 8:08 am
  #9  
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: DCA, IAD (not BWI if I can help it)
Programs: UA 1MM 1K, Marriott Gold, Hyatt Explorist, status-free on AA, AS, B6, DL, WN, Amtrak, etc.
Posts: 1,474
AC passes giftable?

I cashed in expiring Business Extra points to get a couple of AC passes. I'm thinking of giving one to a friend who flies a ton on AA but has no domestic lounge access. The passes themselves aren't personalized beyond a stamped number, so it seems like I could just hand him one and tell him to write his name on it before handing it over at a club. Right? Or will the lounge agents ask him for the corresponding Business Extra account number or otherwise want to know how he got the pass?
DCA writer is online now  
Old Jan 11, 2017, 10:44 am
  #10  
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: SFO
Programs: UA MM Gold, AA Ex Plat, SPG Plat,Hyatt Diamond, Marriott Gold, National Executive Elite
Posts: 985
Missing bonus

I flew in late May on a paid BC fare LAX-LHR-BCN and back. I registered for the BXTA16 promo that would have given me 1600 pts

I never saw the bonus post so I called in the fall and the agent said give it some more time to post so I did. I finally called last week and was told 1) my actual flights never even posted 2) I could request retroactive credit however no way to get the bonus points. I pressed that issue and she explained that they will never go back and credit any promos

Anybody had luck or advice on this? 1600 pts is a decent amount to fight over
cbrown5294 is offline  
Old Jan 11, 2017, 11:00 am
  #11  
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: AA exp, Marriott Amb
Posts: 224
Originally Posted by DCA writer
I cashed in expiring Business Extra points to get a couple of AC passes. I'm thinking of giving one to a friend who flies a ton on AA but has no domestic lounge access. The passes themselves aren't personalized beyond a stamped number, so it seems like I could just hand him one and tell him to write his name on it before handing it over at a club. Right? Or will the lounge agents ask him for the corresponding Business Extra account number or otherwise want to know how he got the pass?
Your friend should be fine, they don't ask at all.
ClimbingCook is offline  
Old Jan 20, 2017, 11:54 am
  #12  
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: TPA/DFW/K15
Programs: AA EXP, Mar AMB, HH LT DIA
Posts: 1,644
Has December posted?
txpenny is offline  
Old Jan 20, 2017, 11:56 am
  #13  
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: PHX
Posts: 323
Originally Posted by txpenny
Has December posted?

Nothing has posted as of today.
CNMAZ is offline  
Old Jan 21, 2017, 7:01 am
  #14  
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: BOS
Programs: AA Plat
Posts: 302
Originally Posted by CNMAZ
Nothing has posted as of today.
Just saw December posted today.
shihyin is offline  
Old Jan 21, 2017, 8:26 am
  #15  
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: SFO/OAK
Programs: AA EXP 3.4MM, BAEC, UAMP, Skyteam (<10k) HH Gold, IHG Plat, Hertz Gold, GE/TSA TT
Posts: 2,723
flight posted but zero BE credit ??

Two of my colleagues flew from SFO to TPA in December. There flights just posted to BE, but both got zero BE points credited. And the BE website says "N/A" under disqualification as it usually does. See screen shot below.

Can anyone explain this?

billgrates3 is offline  

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